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Physicians face occupational hazards including blood-borne pathogens, workplace violence, and chronic pain. Safety measures are crucial for their well-being.

While physicians are charged with caring for others, they are not immune to personal injury and illness. Anastasia Climan, RDN, CD-N, notes that perilous workplace environments are unfortunately common in the healthcare industry. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, healthcare industry work-related injuries and illnesses rose 40% in recent years.

One of the major hazards that physicians face is blood-borne pathogens from contaminated body fluids. An article in the International Journal of Health Sciences noted that surgeons, specifically, are prone to blood-borne pathogen exposure via sharps injuries. The study authors examined general surgeons in France and calculated a mean rate of 0.8 injuries for every 100 hours of operating time. When mapped out over a physician’s career, this equated to 210 injuries for every 100 hours of operating time.

In an article published in the Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open, Craig Goolsby, MD, MEd, and colleagues stated that emergency-department physicians also face significant risk for blood-borne pathogen exposure, with 55% to 70% experiencing a minimum of one needlestick. The authors cited one study that examined an ED over a 4-year timespan and found that 44% of total sharps injuries affected physicians. Sharps injuries often occur due to a lack of equipment, insufficient time, few resources, long hours, and an overabundance of paperwork.

Dr. Goolsby and colleagues also noted that ED physicians might be particularly at risk for workplace violence. They cited a year-long study in which a monumental 78% of physicians in the ED were exposed to workplace violence, with 21% of occurrences being physical assault. Among 88 examined hospital shootings, 30% took place in the ED.

Another common occupational hazard experienced by physicians is chronic pain. Authors of the International Journal of Health Sciences article stated that surgeons are particularly vulnerable to experiencing musculoskeletal pain, most notably in the hands and wrists. Doctors also risk damaging their eyes and ears, as noise exposure and poor lighting can have adverse effects on physicians’ hearing and vision. Physicians are best served acknowledging potential occupation hazards and taking any possible protective measures.